When I read the first chapter the first thing I noticed about Lady Elliot was that her husband had inserted the day of the month that she died. It says that he lost his wife and that led me to believe he cared about her and knew that he had indeed lost a valuable partner when she passed away. Lady Elliot had tried to make his good sides overcome his not so good. I think that while she was alive the family-life was fairly pleasant. (It would not be filled with snide remarks like the marriage of Mr and Mrs Bennet.)